In this report:

• The parish has received notification from the governor of an award of $880,000 for fiscal year 2012 Community Development Block Grant funding to rehab the sewer collection system in the communities of Luling and Boutte on the I-310 side of Paul Maillard Road. Specifically the project will consist of cleaning and videoing all gravity-fed sewer lines in targeted areas. Once the videoing is complete, the lines will be analyzed, and rehabilitation plans will be developed. Plans will include the point repairs on the gravity sewer main, curing of inline piping, manhole rehabilitation and all other repairs that are needed to reduce the amount of infiltration into the sewer system. A lot of our sewer backups are related to when we have these heavy rains. With all this infiltration into the lines, it doesn't have anywhere to go but to come out of the ground. The rehabilitation is proposed for sewer lines located along the following streets within the targeted area: Easy Street, Sycamore Street, Lavier Lane, Gassen Lane, Luling Estates, Allie Street, Ristoph Street, Kinler Street, Brooklyn Street, Paul Fredrick Street, Paul Maillard Road, Jones Street, Canal Street, Hackberry Street, Oak Court, Blueberry Hill, Turner Lane, Bailey Street, Boutte Estates, Alexander Street, South Kinler Street, Ponderosa Road, Goodchildren Street and Pit Road. Hats off to Grants Officer Holly Fonseca and L.J. Brady and Sammy Accardo in Wastewater for bringing this grant in.
  
  
• Recently we had our annual Info Tour. We had about 30 people show up, which is the biggest response we have had so far. They were able to see the water plant on each side the river, the new animal shelter, our pumping stations and our wastewater infrastructure. Public Information Officer Renee Simpson said they asked a lot of questions. In fact, they ran over time they were asking so many questions. But it is starting to catch on.
  
  
• The new animal shelter was dedicated the last week in April. We had a really great turnout at the facility. Animal Control Director Angie Robert was really excited about moving into a new place. If you haven't had a chance to stop by and see it, please do. I think it’s a building we can all be very proud of, and it will be there for a long time.
  
  
• Recently Timmy and I also met with the members of the Regional Planning Commission, Walter Brooks with the Division Planning Authority and Mike Stack with the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. The following projects were discussed: The widening of Paul Maillard Road from River Road to the hospital; the extension of Willowdale Boulevard paralleling Highway 90 with an overpass going over Highway 90 and the railroad track and tying in to River Road; and a flyover at Highway 90. If you’re coming from the west going east at I-310, you know how all the cars are backed up, especially on Fridays and before football games. They are going to build an onramp to go over Highway 90 and tie in to I-310. We also discussed the extension of Earhart Boulevard to I-310 in St. Rose. We also discussed the turning lanes in the business district through Luling and Boutte, and they are going to be putting no turning signs coming east to west on Highway 90.